Psalms chapter 26
Integrity Statement
1 Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity; I have trusted also in the Lord without wavering.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and try me; test my mind and my heart.
3 For your mercy is before my eyes, and I walk in your truth.
4 I have not sat with hypocrites, nor have I gone in with those who walk in deceit.
5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence, and so I will go around your altar, O Lord,
7 to proclaim with a voice of thanksgiving, and to tell of all your wonderful deeds.
8 O Lord, I love the habitation of your house, and the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands is evil, and whose right hand is full of bribes.
11 But I will walk in my integrity; redeem me, and have mercy on me.
12 My foot stands on level ground; in the congregations I will bless the Lord.
Psalms chapter 27
Jehovah is my light and my salvation
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and foes, they stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, even then I will be confident.
4 One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.
6 Then my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; at his sacred tent I will offer sacrifices of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice when I call to you, O Lord; be gracious to me and answer me.
8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face.” Your face, O Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my help. Do not leave me or forsake me, O God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my enemies.
12 Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses have risen against me, and those who breathe out violence.
13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart; wait for the Lord.
Psalms chapter 28
Prayer for help, and praise for the answer
1 To you, O Lord, I cry out; my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me, lest, if you are silent, I become like those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your holy temple.
3 Do not sweep me away with the wicked, with those who do evil, who speak peace with their neighbors, but evil is in their hearts.
4 Repay them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their actions; give them what they deserve according to the work of their hands.
5 Because they have not regarded the works of the Lord, nor the work of his hands, he will tear them down and not build them up.
6 Blessed be the Lord, who has heard the voice of my supplications.
7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me; therefore my heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.
8 The Lord is the strength of his people, a saving refuge for his anointed.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance; be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Psalms chapter 29
Power and glory of Jehovah
1 Ascribe to the Lord, you mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them skip like calves, Lebanon and Sirion like young wild oxen.
7 The voice of the Lord pours out flashes of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord strips the oaks bare and lays bare the forests; all things proclaim his glory in his temple.
10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people; Jehovah will bless his people with peace.
Psalms chapter 30
Thanksgiving for having been delivered from death
1 I will extol you, O Lord, for you have lifted me up, and have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you healed me.
3 O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol; you spared me from going down to the pit.
4 Sing praises to the Lord, you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
6 In my prosperity I said, “I shall never be shaken.”
7 For you, O Lord, by your favor made me like a sturdy mountain. You hid your face, and I was dismayed.
8 To you, O Lord, I cry; to the Lord I make supplication.
9 What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; O Lord, be my helper.
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.
12 Therefore I will sing praise to you, my glory, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will praise you forever.
Psalms chapter 31
Statement of trust
1 In you, O Lord, I have put my trust; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake you will lead me and guide me.
4 Free me from the net they have set for me, for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but I put my hope in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your unfailing love, for you saw my affliction; you knew my troubles.
8 You did not hand me over to the enemy; you set my feet in a spacious place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes are worn out with grief, my soul and my body with sorrow.
10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.
11 I am a reproach to all my enemies, and even more to my neighbors, and a horror to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten like a dead man; I have become like a broken vessel.
13 For I hear the slander of many; terror assails me on every side, as they take counsel together against me and plot to take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from my pursuers.
16 Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, O Lord, for I have called upon you; Let the wicked be ashamed; let them be silent in Sheol.
18 Let lying lips be silenced, which speak harsh things against the righteous with pride and contempt.
19 How great is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you have bestowed on those who take refuge in you, in the sight of all mankind!
20 In the secret place of your presence you hide them from human plots; you keep them safe in your dwelling from strife and tongues.
21 Praise be to the Lord, for he has shown me his wonderful kindness in a fortified city.
22 In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from your sight!” But you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you his holy people! The Lord preserves the faithful, but he fully repays the arrogant.
24 Be strong, all you who put your hope in the Lord, and let your heart take courage.
Psalms chapter 32
The joy of forgiveness
1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the great waters rise, they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, or they will not come near you.
10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but mercy surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Psalms chapter 33
Praise to the Creator and Preserver
1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; praise is fitting for the upright.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to him with the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into heaps; he lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the purposes of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose as his inheritance.
13 From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of them all and considers all their deeds.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.
19 To deliver their souls from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.
21 Therefore our heart rejoices in him, for we have trusted in his holy name.
22 May your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, even as we put our hope in you.
Psalms chapter 34
Divine protection
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear of it and be glad.
3 Glorify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The young lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is the man who desires life, who loves many days to see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of his servants, and none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
Psalms chapter 35
Prayer asking to be delivered from enemies
1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and rise up to my help.
3 Draw out the spear, stop it against my pursuers; say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4 Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek my life; let them be turned back and confounded who plot my harm.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind, with the angel of the Lord driving them away.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery, with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 For without cause they hid their net for me in a pit; without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him unawares, and let the net he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it to his destruction.
9 Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; it shall exult in his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “Lord, who is like you, rescuing the poor from those too strong for them, the needy and poor from those who exploit them?”
11 Wicked witnesses rise up; they ask me about things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good, to the affliction of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth; I humbled myself with fasting, and my prayer returned to my own heart.
14 I went about as though for my friend or brother, as one who mourns for his mother; I bowed my head in mourning.
15 But they rejoiced at my adversity and gathered together; vile people gathered against me, and I did not know it; they tore at me without ceasing.
16 Like flatterers, mockers, and scoundrels, they gnashed their teeth at me.
17 Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, my life from the lions.
18 I will give thanks to you in the great congregation; I will praise you among a great people.
19 Let not those who are my enemies without cause rejoice over me, nor let those who hate me without cause wink at me.
20 For they do not speak peace; and against the meek of the earth they devise deceitful words.
21 They opened their mouths wide against me; they said, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”
22 You have seen it, O Lord; do not be silent; O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir yourself up and awake to vindicate me, my God and my Lord, to plead my cause.
24 Vindicate me according to your righteousness, O Lord my God, and do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say in their hearts, “Aha, our soul!” Do not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
26 Let them be ashamed and confounded together who rejoice at my hurt; let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who exalt themselves against me.
27 Let those who favor my righteous cause shout for joy and be glad; let them continually say, “Let the Lord be magnified, who delights in the well-being of his servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of your righteousness and of your praise all day long.
Psalms chapter 36
The mercy of God
1 The wickedness of the wicked says to my heart, “There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
2 Therefore he flatters himself in his own eyes, that his wickedness will not be found out and hated.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit; he has ceased to be wise and to do good.
4 He devises evil on his bed; he is in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil.
5 O Lord, your mercy reaches to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, your judgments like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.
7 How precious, O God, is your mercy! Therefore the children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They shall be fully satisfied with the fatness of your house, and you shall give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life; In your light we will see light.
10 Extend your mercy to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright in heart.
11 Let no proud foot come against me, nor the hand of the wicked move me.
12 There the evildoers have fallen; they are brought down, never to rise again.
Psalms chapter 37
The path of the wicked
1 Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they will soon wither like grass, and fade like green herbs.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people prosper in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For the wicked will be destroyed, but those who wait on the Lord will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at them, for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords and bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken.
16 Better is the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of trouble they will not be ashamed, and in days of famine they will have plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish, and the enemies of the Lord will be like the fat of lambs; they will be consumed, they will vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous are generous and give.
22 For those blessed by him will inherit the land, but those cursed by him will be destroyed.
23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and he delights in his way.
24 Though he falls, he will not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
25 I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
26 He is always generous and lends freely, and his children are a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good; then you will live forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be destroyed.
29 The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and their tongue utters justice.
31 The law of their God is in their heart; their feet will not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking to kill them.
33 But the Lord will not leave them in their power or condemn them when they are brought to trial.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power, spreading themselves like a green laurel tree.
36 But they passed away and were no more; I sought them, but they could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, and observe the upright; for there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But all the transgressors will be destroyed together; the posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in times of trouble.
40 The Lord will help them and deliver them; he will deliver them from the wicked and save them, because they take refuge in him.
Psalms chapter 38
Prayer of a penitent
1 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows have pierced me, and your hand has come down upon me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities are too heavy upon my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds fester and are loathsome because of my folly.
6 I am bowed down and brought very low; I go about mourning all day long.
7 For my loins are filled with burning heat, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am weak and crushed; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my groaning is not hidden from you.
10 My heart is in anguish; my strength has left me, and even the light of my eyes has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my neighbors stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares, and those who seek my harm speak wickedness, and devise deceit all day long.
13 But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; and I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I am like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth there are no rebukes.
15 For in you, O Lord, I have put my hope; you will answer, O Lord my God.
16 I said, “Let them not rejoice over me; when my foot slips, let them not exalt themselves over me.”
17 But I am about to fall, and my pain is continually before me.
18 Therefore I will confess my iniquity, and I will be sorry for my sin.
19 For my enemies are alive and strong, and those who hate me without cause are numerous.
20 Those who repay evil for good are my adversaries, because I pursue what is good.
21 Do not forsake me, O Lord; O my God, do not be far from me.
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation
Psalms chapter 39
The transient nature of life
1 I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I do not sin with my tongue; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked are before me.”
2 I was mute and silent; I held my peace, even from good things, and my sorrow increased.
3 My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned; and so I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.”
5 Behold, you have made my days a little, and my years are as nothing in your sight; surely all mankind is but a breath. Selah
6 Surely mankind is like a shadow; surely they go about their business in vain; they heap up riches, and do not know who will gather them.
7 And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions; do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I was silent; I did not open my mouth, for you did it.
10 Take away your plague from me; I am consumed by the blows of your hand.
11 With rebukes for sin you discipline mankind, and you destroy like a moth what is precious to them; surely all mankind is but a breath. Selah
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and listen to my cry for help. Do not be silent at my tears; for I am a stranger to you, a sojourner, as all my ancestors were.
13 Leave me alone, that I may regain my strength, before I depart and perish.
Psalms chapter 40
Praise for divine liberation
1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.
4 Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
5 Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done; your thoughts toward us are too numerous to describe. Were I to speak and declare them, they are too many to count.
6 Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but my ears you have opened; burnt offering and sin offering you do not require.
7 Then I said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come.”
8 I delight to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.
9 I have proclaimed righteousness in the great assembly; I have not restrained my lips, O Lord, you know.
10 I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your love and your truth from the great assembly.
11 O Lord, do not withhold your mercies from me; may your love and your truth always protect me.
12 For countless troubles surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot lift up my eyes. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; O Lord, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded who seek my life to destroy it. Let them be turned back and put to shame who wish me harm;
15 let them be disgraced for their reproach who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
16 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; let those who love your salvation always say, “The Lord be exalted!”
17 Though I am poor and needy, the Lord thinks of me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, my God.
Psalms Chapter 41
Prayer for health
1 Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the day of trouble.
2 The Lord will protect him and keep him alive; he will be blessed in the land, and you will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed; in his illness you will restore him to full health.
4 I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies speak evil of me, saying, “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when they come to see me, they speak lies; their hearts gather iniquity, and when they go out they spread it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me; they plot evil against me, saying of me,
8 “A pestilence has seized him; he who lies down will not rise again.”
9 Even my close friend, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.
11 By this I shall know that I am pleased with you, that my enemy shall not triumph over me.
12 As for me, you have upheld me in my integrity, and set me before you forever.
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
Psalms chapter 42
My soul thirsts for God
1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul within me: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.
5 Why are you downcast, my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, from the heights of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; All your waves and breakers have swept over me.
8 But by day the Lord directs his love, and at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you downcast, my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalms chapter 43
Prayer asking for vindication and liberation
1 Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause; deliver me from wicked nations, from deceitful and unjust men.
2 For you are the God of my strength; why have you rejected me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
3 Send forth your light and your truth; let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalms Chapter 44
Past releases and present trials
1 O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, the work you did in their days, in the days of old.
2 With your hand you drove out the nations and planted them; you afflicted the peoples and cast them out.
3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your countenance, for you delighted in them.
4 You, O God, are my King; command salvation for Jacob.
5 Through you we will push back our enemies; in your name we will tread down our foes.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, nor will my sword save me;
7 for you have saved us from our enemies and put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we will always boast, and we will forever praise your name. Selah
9 But you have rejected us and put us to shame; you do not go out with our armies.
10 You made us retreat before the enemy, and our foes plunder us.
11 You gave us up like sheep to the slaughter and scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for nothing; you demanded no price.
13 You made us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
14 You made us a proverb among the nations; all who see us shake their heads.
15 My shame is before me all day long, and my face is covered with confusion,
16 because of the voice of those who reproach and dishonor me, because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has happened to us, yet we have not forgotten you, nor have we been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back, nor have our steps strayed from your ways,
19 so that you have crushed us like jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, or lifted up our hands to a foreign god,
21 would not God have taken notice? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Awake, do not be far from us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust, and our body hangs down to the ground.
26 Rise up to help us, and redeem us for the sake of your unfailing love.
Psalms Chapter 45
Song of the King's Wedding
1 My heart overflows with a good message; I address my song to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready writer.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one, with your glory and your majesty.
4 In your glory be prosperous; ride on the word of truth, of humility, and of righteousness, and your right hand will teach you awesome deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharp, with which nations will fall beneath you; they will pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom.
7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.
8 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes, and cassia; From ivory palaces they delight you.
9 Daughters of kings are among your noble ones; the queen stands at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house;
11 the king will desire your beauty, and bow down to him, for he is your lord.
12 The daughters of Tyre will come with gifts; the wealthy among the people will seek your favor.
13 All glorious is the king’s daughter in her chamber; her clothing is of gold brocade.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king; virgins follow her; her companions are brought to you.
15 They will be led in with joy and gladness; they will enter the king’s palace.
16 Your children will replace your ancestors; you will make them princes over all the earth.
17 I will make your name famous throughout all generations, so that the peoples will praise you forever and ever.
Psalms Chapter 46
God is our refuge and strength
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her; she shall not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 The nations raged, the kingdoms tottered; he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Psalms Chapter 47
God, the King of all the earth
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with cries of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.
3 He subdues peoples under us, nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah.
5 God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples assemble as the people of the God of Abraham.
10 For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted.
Psalms Chapter 48
Beauty and glory in Zion
1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in the land, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
3 In her palaces, God is known as a refuge.
4 For behold, the kings of the earth assemble; they all pass by.
5 And when they saw it thus, they marveled; they were troubled, and hastened to flee.
6 Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor.
7 With an east wind you break the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we heard, so we have seen it in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish it forever. Selah
9 We remember your mercy, O God, in the midst of your temple.
10 According to your name, O God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth; your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion rejoice; let the daughters of Judah be glad because of your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go around it; count its towers.
13 Consider its ramparts carefully; look at its palaces, so that you may tell it to the next generation.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even to death.
Psalms Chapter 49
The folly of trusting in riches
1 Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
2 both lowly and high, rich and poor alike.
3 My mouth will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will reveal understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will declare my riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I fear in the days of adversity, when the iniquity of my oppressors surrounds me?
6 Those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches,
7 none of them can by any means redeem a brother or give to God a ransom for him
8 (for the redemption of his life is costly, and it can never be obtained),
9 that he may live forevermore and never see corruption.
10 For he will see that even the wise die; they perish like the foolish and senseless, and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their heart thinks their houses will last forever, their dwellings for all generations; they name their lands after themselves.
12 But mortals will not endure to glory; they are like the beasts that perish.
13 Their ways are folly, yet their descendants delight in their sayings. Selah
14 Like flocks that are led to Sheol, death will be their shepherd, and the upright will rule over them in the morning. Their beauty will decay, and Sheol will be their home.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me to himself. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when someone becomes rich, when the splendor of his house increases;
17 for when he dies he will take nothing with him, nor will his splendor descend with him.
18 Though while he lives he may call himself blessed, and be praised when he prospers,
19 he will go to the generation of his fathers, and will never see the light again.
20 A man who is honorable and lacks understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Psalms Chapter 50
God will judge the world
1 The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and summoned the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 God shines forth from Zion, the perfection of beauty.
3 Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and a mighty tempest surrounds him.
4 He summons the heavens above and the earth, to judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my saints, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
8 I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices, nor for your burnt offerings, which are continually before me.
9 I will not take a bull from your stall, nor a goat from your pens.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.”
11 I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and everything in it is mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline and cast my words behind you.
18 When you saw a thief, you were his accomplice, and you shared in the adulterers’ schemes.
19 You use your mouth for evil, and your tongue practices deceit.”
20 You sat and spoke against your brother; you slandered your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But I will rebuke you and lay them before your eyes.
22 Now therefore, consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to deliver you.
23 Whoever offers praise as a sacrifice honors me; and to him who orders his way aright, I will show the salvation of God.